Wife of Pinkberry yogurt chain co-founder begs judge for leniencyLA Times – by Kate Mather

Judge Henry J. Hall was blunt when he addressed Pinkberry co-founder Young Lee in court Friday, calling his 2011 attack on a homeless man both “horrendous” and “fairly merciless.”

Lee, 49, was convicted last year of beating Ronald Bolding with a tire iron while Bolding was panhandling along an East Hollywood street. Hall handed Lee the maximum sentence of seven years in prison Friday, despite his attorney’s request that he be evaluated for possible probation.   Continue reading “Pinkberry co-founder ‘merciless’ in beating homeless man, judge says”

Reuters – by Nate Raymond and Aruna Viswanatha

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp sued 16 of the world’s largest banks on Friday, accusing them of cheating dozens of other now defunct banks by manipulating the Libor interest rate.

The global financial institutions broke certain swaps contracts they had entered into with the now-closed banks, by separately colluding to rig the Libor rate to which the contracts were tied, the FDIC said.   Continue reading “U.S. regulator sues 16 banks for rigging Libor rate”

tigerSHTF Plan – by Mac Slavo

Yesterday Secretary of State and flip-flopper extraordinaire John Kerry advised Russia that Vladimir Putin has until Monday to pull back his forces from Ukraine. Failure to do so would lead to serious repercussions. Kerry was light on details, but we can assume he was talking about some sort of economic sanctions:   Continue reading “The Tiger Awakens: China Warns of “Retaliatory Action” and “Unforeseeable Consequences” Over U.S. Monday Deadline”

Sovereign Man – by Ambergris Caye, Belize

One of the key lessons we can take away from history is that the global financial system changes… frequently.

In ancient times, Roman coins were used across the region by Romans and non-Romans alike who engaged in trade and commerce.

Given how destructively successive Roman governments debased their coins, however, the reserve burden eventually fell to the Byzantine Empire, whose gold solidus coin became the dominant currency in world trade.   Continue reading “The World Is Screaming For A New Financial System”

The Wall Street Journal – by MIN ZENG

Foreign central banks’ Treasury bond holdings parked at the Federal Reserve dropped by the most on record in the latest week. Some analysts think the crisis in Ukraine is sparking the move.

Their theory: Russia is shifting its Treasury bond holdings out of the Fed and into offshore accounts. That way, Russia would be able to buy or sell its portfolio if the U.S. and its European allies impose economic sanctions amid growing geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.   Continue reading “Did Russia Just Move Its Treasury Holdings Offshore?”

cannCollective Evolution – by Arjun Walia

Pediatric cannabis therapy is saving children. Awareness is the most important thing at this moment. This young lady is finishing up her last bit of required chemotherapy (because she is a child,  her parents had no choice) treatment, so take a moment to send her your love and healing vibes, and then read away. You can stay updated on her story via the links throughout this article (in bold), which will take you to her Facebook page which is run by her parents, and her website.   Continue reading “Oregon’s Youngest Medical Cannabis Patient Is Curing Her Cancer – See How She’s Doing It”

Tech Dirt – by  Mike Masnick

This week’s This American Life is an entire hour devoted to investigating the FBI’s killing of Ibragim Todashev along with a companion piece in Boston Magazine. You probably heard about the basics of the Todashev story. Todashev was a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers implicated in the Boston Marathon bombings (and the one who was killed when law enforcement tried to capture them), who was being interviewed by the FBI and was then shot multiple times and killed — with a whole variety of conflicting stories coming out soon after as to what he did to lead to his death. Continue reading “How The FBI Has Been Working Hard To Deport Friends Of Guy They Killed During Interview About Boston Bombing”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

With Interfax reporting that Belarus has begun full-scale military drills in a “readiness check”, images from Russia and Ukraine suggest the worst-case scenario – that Russia is making preparations to invade Ukraine, not just Crimea but perhaps as far west as Kharkiv, or even beyond – is more possible. Talks have broken down:   Continue reading “The Tanks Are Coming While Russia, US “Remain At Odds” Over Ukraine”

Washington Post – by Craig Timberg

U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move likely to please international critics but alarm some business leaders and others who rely on smooth functioning of the Web.Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance last year.   Continue reading “U.S. to relinquish remaining control over the Internet”

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff

President Barack Obama has insisted he should not get involved in the current political fight between his Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Senate’s intelligence committee over documents related to the CIA’s former detention and interrogation program. But the fact is Obama has been directly involved all along, beginning long before the disagreements and accusations began to fly between the CIA and the committee.   Continue reading “Obama Refuses to Turn Over 9,400 CIA Torture and Interrogation Documents to Congress”

The Guardian – by Matthew Weaver and Tom McCarthy

Welcome to our continuing coverage of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane almost a week after it disappeared over the South China Sea with 239 people on board.

Here’s a summary of the latest developments:    Continue reading “MH370: First week of searching produces no tangible clues”

Computer keyboardDescrier

Hackers have successfully compromised all major web browsers as part of the Pwn2Own contest at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, Canada, with zero-day exploits demonstrated against Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Adobe Flash Player.

A group from French security research firm Vupen hacked Google Chrome by exploiting a use-after-free vulnerability that exists in both the WebKit and Blink rendering engines, and then successfully managed to bypass Chrome’s sandbox to execute code on the underlying PC.   Continue reading “All major web browsers compromised at Pwn2Own hacking contest”

I just wanted to say that it’s only a matter of time when Americans wake up and realize that it’s not about black vs. white, it’s about the 1% vs. the 99%.

If you don’t own a mansion, or several homes, travel all over the world, drive luxurious cars, own yachts, private jets and take expensive vacations, then you are the 99%.

I applaud those with great pride who have worked hard and saved their money to enjoy life at its fullest, those who have never and will never take handouts from anyone, including governments.  Those who truly believe in right and wrong that stand up to those who have no remorse, or guilt about their corrupt dealings because they know they will always be protected.    Continue reading “Open Letter to All”